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EPX PRO upgrades

Hello all RedCat repair specialist..
I am a new RedCat EPX Pro owner and I have been modding this little monster to get the best possible performance and it seems the hardest part is to keep the drive train in tact when bashing. I have only had this Truck for about a month and I find the hardest part is to keep the drive axles from breaking. I upgraded all 4 dogbones to the universal drive shafts only to destroy all 4 in about 20 mins and had to revert back to regular dog bones. The dogbones seem to have a much longer life span. Has anyone else tried universal upgrades and experienced the same results? Are the dogbones capable of taking more abuse? Typical bashing events consist of racing and jumping with buddies.

RE: EPX PRO upgrades

put 1/8 think nitro fuel tubing bits in the diff output cups. Helps to keep the dogbones fully in the wheel's cup. When turning, they can pop out...or get bound and thus snap.

another help is to turn up the punch control on the ESC. Can be done manually, but is much easier if you buy the ezrun program card. Throttle control on the driver's part helps, but the ESC's punch control and brake settings can help alot.

Consider shock setting and camber settings. The lessor the angle on the driveshafts the less stress on them.

Ive meant to 100 times to take a dogbone to the hobby shop and search for a match from another brand but always forget to.

I tried the CVDs once and they bent. While the CVD part works well...the shaft is no thicker or stronger than the dogbone. So its cheaper IMO to go with dogbones.

These models do not have a slipper clutch. Its probly the single worst aspect. Most other brushless models have them, and they take up the strain when we land with the throttle on, or hit the throttle too fast. But with the EPX pro models its upto ESC settings and driver control to do that job. The stock ESC settings work well for the stock nimh pack. The upped power from a 2s lipo pack means the brake and punch control settings are now off of what they really should be.

RE: EPX PRO upgrades

Can a slipper clutch be added to this system? I would like to like to get this as rugged as possible. It is a great truck as far as performace especially with a Lipo, all of the shaft damage was done with NiMh battery. The shafts didnt break but instead the pins in the universal cups fell out. Since I have upgraded to all aluminum chassis and a-arms the truck itself has held up really well.

It is still my intent to build a buggy bumper for you, I just have not been in the shop lately. I have the specs now for the frame and will do my best to keep it low profile since its not a Monster Truck.

RE: EPX PRO upgrades

ORIGINAL: Johnathond22

Â*Can a slipper clutch be added to this system? I would like to like to get this as rugged as possible. It is a great truck as far as performace especially with a Lipo, all of the shaft damage was done with NiMh battery. The shafts didnt break but instead the pins in the universal cups fell out. Since I have upgraded to all aluminum chassis and a-arms the truck itself has held up really well.Â*

It is still my intent to build a buggy bumper for you, I just have not been in the shop lately. I have the specs now for the frame and will do my best to keep it low profile since its not a Monster Truck.Â*

cool...
I didnt have much issue with dogbones on my volcano or my tornado. I mean, a dogbone every 10 pack or so would snap (one of the ends) but thats not that bad IMO. Had many a traxxas model that had the same issue with their driveshafts.

The ESC punch control will still help, even if you run nimh packs.
As I said, I didnt like the CVD upgrade parts. I went back to dogbones. I found that putting nitro fuel tubing in the cups and setting up the shocks for lessor angle on the driveshafts (lower ride hight) helped alot.

There is no way I know of to add a slipper clutch. MAYBE, with a good deal of modding, the slipper setup from a traxxas slash 4x4 could be made to work. Youd need a 32p pinion to match new traxxas' 32p spur. Im not sure if there is even enough room between the diff and motor mount to put a slipper.

taking a trip to a hobby shop and comparring the epx's dogbone to other brands may reveal that another model out there has the same length/ball size and could be a stronger dogbone.

If you havent owned a traxxas Brushless model, you cant apprecieate the dogbones on the redcat stuff. The traxxas slider shafts tend to twist and then snap off. Over the years I must have replaced 30-40 of these! And the only upgrades are made by MIP and cost $50 for the 2wds...$100 for the 4wd models. My buddy bought all 4 MIP shafts for his slash 4x4....and broke a front MIP in the 1st battery pack! Man was he ticked.

The nitro fuel tubbing really can make a difference. Without it, the dogbones move around in the drive cups....metal hitting metal and wearing each other out.